Legalising and Translating Your Diplomas to Study Abroad
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Foreign institutions and organisations often require your official documents to be legalised, translated or recognised. These formalities take time and determine whether your application is admissible: it is better to start them several months before the deadline.
Which documents are concerned
- Baccalaureate, bachelor's or master's diplomas and their transcripts.
- Enrolment or pass certificates, class ranking.
- Civil status records (birth certificate) for the visa or enrolment.
- Criminal record extract and medical certificates, depending on the country.
Legalisation
Legalisation certifies the authenticity of a signature. In Morocco, it generally goes through the institutions concerned and then the competent services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Some countries apply the simplified apostille procedure when they are signatories of the Hague Convention; others require legalisation by their consulate. Find out about the exact procedure for the destination country.
Translation
When documents are not in the language of the destination country, a translation by a sworn translator is often required. Have transcripts and diplomas translated in one go so that terminology stays consistent, and keep several certified copies. For French-speaking and English-speaking countries, some universities accept bilingual documents already issued by the home institution.
Equivalence and recognition
For certain regulated fields (medicine, law, architecture) or certain countries, an official body requires an equivalence of the diploma. Other institutions assess your file themselves. Ask the host institution which procedure applies.
A realistic calendar
- Three to four months before the deadline: request the official transcripts and start the legalisation.
- Two months before: have the documents translated.
- One month before: scan the documents in high quality and check the required formats.
Common mistakes
- Waiting for the admission letter before starting the procedures.
- Forgetting to have the back of documents or the stamps translated.
- Submitting illegible scans.
- Not keeping certified true copies for the visa.